The Society for the Protection of Forests Against Fire (SOPFEU) is calling for caution among the population of eastern Quebec due to the risk of fire which will be very high over the coming days.
According to SOPFEU, weather conditions mean that the risk linked to forest fires will be particularly high in the coming days on the North Shore, in Bas-Saint-Laurent and in Gaspésie.
On Thursday morning, the fire risk already reached the “extreme” level, the highest, in these regions.
“When SOPFEU calls for caution, this means that the weather indices predict that the conditions will not only be conducive to the outbreak of fires, but that they will also favor high intensity fires, which can spread quickly” , we can read in a press release.
SOPFEU indicates that it is monitoring the situation very closely, as it anticipates the outbreak of several new fires in the coming days.
This call for caution is launched a few hours before the start of the Quebec National Day long weekend.
In this context, the organization maintains that it is not recommended to have open fires, such as campfires, when the fire danger is high or when winds blow above 20 km/h. .
SOPFEU also calls for vigilance from people who go out in all-terrain vehicles, since the hot parts of the engines of these cars can start fires if they come into contact with dry brush.
On Thursday morning, three forest fires were active in the SOPFEU intensive protection zone.